Detonation
by calleighstorres
Summary: The team investigates the cause of an explosion that injured one of the CSIs. Casefic. Team-centric. [ON HOLD]
1. detonation (1)

**Summary: One of the CSIs is injured when an explosion takes place. **

**Disclaimer: Public Domain; I don't own anything used in this fanfic. All rights reserved.**

**Authors Notes: Set in Season 5, before 5.22 ("Burned")**

**Episodes inspiration: 7.25, 7.20, 5.20, 4.20, 4.15 & so forth.**

* * *

It was his lunch break. Ryan had decided to go and grab a coffee as he was feeling a little energy ridden that day. He was walking along the path to his Hummer that wasn't parked too far away. It was that damned mailbox. There was quite a few other people in the area and they saw his badge. Ryan wasn't trying to hide the fact he was a police officer. As an on duty officer, he had to have a clear identification at all times unless given reason not to.

He thought he'd seen a little green light on the box but had ignored his instincts as he thought his eye was playing up again. There wasn't a way he was seeing some kind of mini device on a standard mailbox like that. Only he should've known, he was too correct. Inside was a crafted device set to explode.

_3..2..1.. 'BANG!' _

The last thing he saw was a massive explosion in which the impact had hit him. He hit the ground, as everyone else around him did. It was very uncommon for people to use explosives to make a point in Miami. They usually used guns or hand held weapons. It wasn't very often you'd hear about a bomb case. Rarely. The faint smell of smoke was the only thing he could really smell after that.

Ryan slowly opened his eyes, taking a look around him. People were on the ground. Some more injured than others. Taking a lot at the mailbox, he knew that not all the evidence had been destroyed.. only the top had been taken off which still left the rest of it to work with, lucky for the CSIs. Wolfe scrambled to his feet, taking a deep breath a few feet away from the scene before he came back over. He called in the explosion and awaited backup.

"Everybody, it's alright. I'm with Miami-Dade PD and help is on the way."

He looked around, seeing if there was anything that could be of use. Then he got it. The security camera on the lamppost. It was a new one that was ready and working. Or if not, the ATM across the road could've caught something. Ryan was going around, checking on everyone despite his own injuries.

When Fire and Rescue came along with MDPD and some Firefighters, they hadn't expected to see Ryan up and helping everyone. "Officer Wolfe, you good?" Ryan turned to the patrol sergeant talking to him. "I'm good. A little sore but I'm a police officer, right?" Sergeant Bailey nodded in uncertainty. He was portraying a brave face for someone who was within short range of the explosion that could've killed him.

Ryan could feel the blood dripping down the side of his face from a fresh head wound. He was a little confused but all in all, not dead and still walking. His green sweater had lived another eventful day. He was glad he was wearing black dress pants as opposed to jeans otherwise the ash stains would've been much harder to get rid off. If there was anything he hated being referred to as, it would be the word 'victim'. He was no victim. Never had been. Never would be.

"Your officer is over there." He heard the detective tell someone who he assumed was from the Crime Lab there to investigate what happened.

Wolfe wasn't allowed to leave until he'd been checked over, interviewed and cleared. "Mr Wolfe, are you okay?" "Cal and Eric should print that letterbox before the prints are swept away." He tentatively raised a hand to his wound, accidentally getting his fingertip dabbed in the fresh blood from the gash. "I've been better. But I could lie there and let all these people worry."

"I know, son. You should go get that patched up."

Ryan sighed. Though he wanted to argue, Horatio was right. "There's a security camera up there and an ATM there." He told his boss before following the paramedic who wanted to check him over to make sure there was no damage done to him as he took a pretty hard fall to the ground based on how big that explosion was.

Caine knew he was just doing his job and had done everything right. Take care of people. Scope the area for any witnesses. Wait for backup before processing the scene. Eric was printing the letter box and collecting any parts of the bomb whereas Calleigh was scoping the perimeter and collecting anything that looked out of place.

Ryan was sat in the back of an ambulance, getting his wound patched up. He'd taken a fall that had scratched his torso but had left no bleeding which meant he was good. Being closest to that box meant he had the most impact though he felt it was important that he as a police officer should take the fall ahead of any citizens that are at risk. He was doing what he was trained to do. And he knew he should've suspected the flashing light on it.

"Take some paracetamol and you should be good to go. You're real brave for doing what you did." The paramedic said sympathetically.

Wolfe thanked him. "You're the first person that hasn't victimized me. Thank you." "Anytime, sir." The young CSI left the ambulance and headed towards his Hummer.

"Wolfe. Can I talk to you?" The detective asked.

Ryan turned to him and huffed. "Yes." In a humorless tone, he answered all the extra questions with his honest answers and mentioned the flash of green light. "Green light? Where?" Wolfe pointed to where Eric was packing up his kit, and it went off again. Only, it was a reflection.

"EVERYBODY DOWN! THERE'S A SNIPER!"

He pulled out his gun and scanned every building in the area. Then he saw a muzzle flash from a balcony. "There! Cover me!"

Ryan ran around to the front of the building and showed his badge, running up the stairs. Everybody was concerned about how contaminated the scene could've been if the shooter had been there earlier. Horatio had seen his injured CSI go after that shooter. It was a risky move but he could only hope Ryan would know what he was doing putting his life at risk like that.

"Wolfe is a dead man." Eric sighed.


	2. detonated (2)

**A/N: Part 2 of Detonation. The case gets more intense as Wolfe risks his life. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with this. Just a fanfiction.**

* * *

"Wolfe's a dead man."

Ryan ran up those stairs quickly, knowing he might come face to face with the shooter. But he was the only one who had seen the muzzle flash and could know where the sniper had been. That top floor was going to be useful for not only finding evidence but also catching the person who knew about the bomb.

He flipped the safety off as he reached the top of the stairs. There were patrol officers following him as he'd asked for cover which meant he wouldn't be alone. They also had their guns drawn. There was only one penthouse suite with a balcony in such range to the letterbox. "Officer, are you sure this is the right place?" "I'm sure."

The three patrol officers followed in suit as Ryan kicked in the door, which swung wide open as he did. "Miami Dade Police!"

From where the rest of the team and the other officers were standing it was undetermined what had happened. That's when something fell from the window. It was a glass. A plastic one which hadn't taken the impact of the fall, still in tact. Horatio knew Ryan had thought this through. There wasn't a way he had gone in without a plan. Despite looking like he didn't know what he was doing - Ryan Wolfe was a smart CSI who knew how to plan on the spot. Like when he saw the CCTV camera. He knew the person responsible hadn't seen it.

"Eric, get back to the lab with the evidence."

Delko nodded, uniformed officers helping him get the evidence to his own department issued Hummer. They needed to solve this case and Wolfe was buying them time. Calleigh offered to go and get those tapes from the CCTV. Horatio agreed and covered the Ballistics expert and she quickly fled the scene in her Hummer. It was a big scene so they had all taken separate vehicles.

"Do you trust Wolfe?" Tripp wasn't sure what was happening but he wasn't exactly happy with it.

Horatio knew this question would come up. "Frank, Ryan knows what he's doing. He's not up there alone either." The detective nodded. They were waiting for what happened next. Then they saw a bullet crash through the windows and hit the ground. It could be from any of the four people with a gun. The other detective identified it as not being from a 9mm, department issued weapon.

Meanwhile, Ryan was fighting the shooter who had attacked him. Wolfe had upholstered his gun so that he wasn't at risk of losing it if he were to get beat to the ground. "You're anything but a cop." The man snarled, attempting to punch him in the face. Ryan dodged it and kicked him across the face which effectively knocked him to the ground. The other officers had detained a second person in the penthouse.

"This is Officer Marcel, we have detained one suspect - with another assaulting an officer... back-up is required.."

The man got up and elbowed Ryan in the face, which sent him through the unlocked doors and onto the balcony. Wolfe landed on his back with a gun aimed at him. All the officers from below could see, however, they couldn't get a clear shot. "Wolfe!"

Ryan had an idea though. He wasn't going to die today when he was so much stronger than that. "You like to shoot cops, huh?" He puffed, slightly out of breath. "Yeah.. you're next you scrawny-" As he went off on a rant dissing Ryan's physique, Wolfe kneed him in the chin and stood up, kicking his gun away and pulling his own on the suspect.

"Maybe I am scrawny." He pulled out his handcuffs and cuffed his hands behind his back, hauling him up off the ground and shoving him towards the doorway.

Horatio had only gotten a glimpse of the fight on the balcony but from what he saw, his CSI was left there with a gun to his neck. He waited outside the building for the officers. Frank stood beside him as he too wanted to know if Wolfe foolishly putting himself in such a position was worth it. Maybe it was. That would only be determined when the young CSI exited that building. Then they'd know for sure.

They'd been up there for a while and everybody else was beginning to wonder. Some officers had gone up there as backup but had not returned. Waiting for the result was giving Horatio a little anxiety. He was sure his CSI was alive. There was something about the gut feeling he had telling him not to even worry. Ryan was more than capable.

"He called me scrawny because of my height."

The redhead looked up, seeing his CSI with at worst a busted lip. He handed over the suspect to patrol and joined his boss on a walk to his Hummer in mind that he may be curious about his actions. "Mr Wolfe, you've been through it all today." "You're telling me. It was a hard fight, I almost went off that balcony."

"And yet you didn't.. you should go get some rest at home."

"H, you can't take me off this case. I'm not a victim."

Horatio wanted to agree, however, he had been the victim in this case. Being in an explosion. Fighting a suspect who decided to try and assault their way out of a confrontation with the MDPD - he should be recovering. "I know." Ryan was stubborn and worked hard on every case. He wondered when the boy would take a break as it wasn't often. But he seemed to manage in the most unexplainable ways. The lieutenant just wanted to make sure he was okay.


	3. detonate (3)

**A/N: Part 3 of Detonated. They've got the shooter, but who made and placed the bomb?**

* * *

Back at the lab, Eric was going to DNA to get the results of the blood he found. It would make sense if it was Wolfe's.. but he needed to be sure. Fuses and things were definitely more Horatio's expertise which is why their boss was in a lab, working on it to see what he could determine how it was made and what was used to detonate the bomb.

"Hey Nat, got any news for me?"

Natalia Boa Vista picked up the results sheet from the print and walked it over to him. "Hey. Had a rough morning?" "A sniper almost ruined all the evidence." The DNA expert smiled and handed him the sheet. "Not Wolfe's?" She shook her head. "Unknown, male doner."

Eric nodded. "That's good news. It means when we find another suspect, we can compare blood samples and see if it's a match. It's not much but it's good. Thanks 'Talia." He gave her a quick smile, leaving the DNA expert with a smile on her face as she watched him leave. Natalia really did care about him and if anything happened to him.. she didn't know what she would do. Him being okay after the shooting, it was more than she could ever ask for.

While in the Trace Lab - Ryan was working on the clothes from the shooter and his accomplice. Anything out of the ordinary would be handy for this case. Tripp was interrogating one by one and he could only work with the evidence. Which is why he had also collected the weapon as he'd noticed some trace on it. He wanted to find out who did this in time.

When scanning the accomplice's shirt, he found traces of C4 on it. "Crap." He discovered a note lodged in the folded sleeve.

_'Tell Hyde it's done once you attack an officer.' _

Ryan wanted to say it wouldn't tell them anything, although, he had hope that they'd be able to make sense of it in QD. But first, he had something he needed to do. Wolfe extracted some of the ink and used it to conduct a chromatography test which proved useful. The components it was made up of proved how old and down the timeline the ink was as he knew for a fact neither of the men they arrested had handwriting like that. It was blocky, with the smallest spaces between each other. Distinct. Awfully so.

That's when he realised something. The beachside. Aiming to kill an identified police officer. Hidden bomb in the letter box. Green light. Sniper, one they weren't meant to find that quickly. Which meant they were ahead of he who they nicknamed 'Hyde' in the note.

"Thought you were sent home?"

He took a glimpse up from his notes and saw Calleigh stood in her lab coat, with a sincere look on her face. "From the field. Doesn't mean I'm not still on the case.. besides, I think I found a link." "Okay.. I'm listening?" Ryan showed her the list of things he had and told her that this could all be one big game they were in the middle of. With hidden snipers and bombs, it just didn't make sense. Using a fictional character to nickname their boss proved one thing. It was the metaphor for the representation of the devil himself. Pure evil.

Whoever they were dealing with, he sure knew how to keep his goons going. However he hadn't planned for the CSIs to interfere as soon as they did. For Ryan to spot the shooter so quickly. They needed a plan.

"I think you're the link."

"And how would that be, Cal?"

Calleigh took his hand and led him to the layout as the Trace tech came in to finish his work. Ryan wasn't sure what she meant but decided he would see where this went. They were teammates after all and teammates trust each other no matter how wrong it seems. "We found an out of place blood sample at the scene because you said to look closer. You saw the blood, the detonation of the bomb, the muzzle flash from the rifle gun, the shooter.. all before we did. You're the only person who can solve this puzzle." Wolfe pursed his lips, looking down to the floor.

"I'm the victim, aren't I?"

The blonde nodded. "Exactly. You're supposed to be dead but your statement had made solving the case a lot easier. The colored flash is a sniper aiming. We need the victim's point of view." "Let me get this straight.. you want me to explain it fully?" Calleigh smiled. "Might be our only hope. But I have a feeling you saw something."


End file.
